December 28, 2008 - Day One - Welcome Party

This year's official Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Welcome Party could very well be considered the best yet...taking place onboard the General Jackson Showboat. The ship departed Gaylord Opryland at approximately 7:00 p.m. taking the Boston College and Vanderbilt University players, coaches and other university officials down the Cumberland River to downtown Nashville.

On the way to downtown, the players competed in a "Family Feud" type trivia competition in which the players had to answer several sports and pop-culture questions. Boston College walked away with the win in the first competition.

Next up, was the ever-exciting annual four on four rib-eating competitions. Four players from each team met the challenge of seeing how many ribs they could devour in 2 minutes. Again, Boston College overcame Vandy and won in a very close 29-28.

The last competition of the night was the mano y mano rib-eating battle. Nick Rossi, a brave Boston College player took on Vanderbilt's Eric Hensley aka "Swamp Donkey". In the end, with a score of 11-10...Vandy's own Hensley is now the reining champion of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Rib-Eating contest.

The teams and guests were also treated to a performance from RCA recording artist and Nashville Star winner Chris Young.

Click here to view photos from the 2008 Welcome Party.